11 December 2022 - CUCUMBER MUSEUM in GERMANY

 

CUCUMBER MUSEUM 

in GERMANY

G'day folks,

A museum honoring Germany’s cucumber mecca offers a great dill of gherkin history.  

Spreewald, a wetland region in eastern Germany, is known for its plethora of pickles. Cucumbers have been one of its agricultural staples for centuries. The Starick family opened Gurkenmuseum, a private museum in the quaint village of Lehde, to honor the area’s star fruit.

 

Spreewald’s gherkins have held worldwide fame for the last 150 years among pickle partisans. It’s been said the region once had as many different types of cucumbers as it had farms. But the fruit’s importance goes back for millennia. The Sorbs, the people who have inhabited the region since the 6th century, placed great importance on the crop.

 

The Gurkenmuseum, which is housed in one of Lehde’s oldest buildings, is full of information about the traditions associated with cucumber cultivation and processing. Visitors can also peruse the many different pickling tools on display, as well as sort their way through photographs and trivia. They can also relish in the abundance of gherkin recipes and even sample some of the region’s renowned produce.

Each August, Spreewald holds a gherkin festival, where the year’s current Gherkin Queen is crowned and celebrated. The museum also features the 500-gallon barrels used to soak the gherkins. There’s also a replica of a Sorbian bedroom, which displays the traditional communal family bed.

 

9 August 2022 - GRIC TUNNEL - CROATIA

 

GRIC TUNNEL

 - CROATIA -

G'day folks,

A World War II evacuation tunnel turned into a history display of Croatian state and people. 

 

 This pedestrian tunnel in the city of Zagreb runs underneath the historic neighborhood of Grič. Built during World War II, the tunnel was originally intended to serve as a bomb shelter and transport link through the hill of Gornji Grad. It measures 350 meters long and up to 5.5 meters wide, connecting Mesnička and Stjepan Radić Streets. Construction began in 1943 and finished 1944. The tunnel was harshly criticized for its expense, and many argued that it was not necessary. Work continued nevertheless, though changes were made to the project. The original plans included a large underground hall to be placed in the center. But in the end, that feature went unrealized, and only an east-west transport corridor was finished.

 

 

After the end of World War II, the tunnel was remodeled and the planned central hall was added. It was used as a warehouse for a food company but was soon forgotten and largely abandoned. It attracted unhoused people and others seeking temporary shelter.

Interest in reviving the tunnel started in the 1990s, when energetic rave parties were held inside. Proposals for the remodeled tunnel included a “museum of senses” and a lift that would allow people to reach the neighborhood above without climbing the steep hill. 

But instead in 2016, the remodeled tunnel opened to public as a cultural center. You can literally walk through the history of Croatia and Zagreb and familiarize yourself with different historical events by information displays and objects. The tunnel is structured to different compartments that are arranged to various displays about culture, everyday life and science. Curators have used different image and light effects and interesting sound options.

The central underground hall has been turned into a Rain Room where visitors walk under water drops (umbrellas are provided by the Tunnel) and images of famous persons of Croatia are displayed. Another interesting exhibit is a Tesla machine that uses sound and electicity and fires out a lightning effect analogous to a Tesla coil.

 

29 August 2022 - THE 'COZY ROOMS' MUSEUM - OREGON

 

THE 'COZY ROOMS' 

MUSEUM 

- OREGON -

G'day folks,

A statue of the owner stands outside of this museum, once the most popular brothel in town. 

In 1928, Stella Darby opened her very own brothel, the Cozy Rooms, when she was still in her 20s. In the lawless Wild West boomtown of Pendleton, Oregon—filled with saloons, opium dens, and brothels—to be so respected was a feat. Situated in the bustling downtown, the Cozy Rooms was the rowdy town’s favorite brothel until it closed in 1967. 

 

Darby was an uncommon madame. Never a sex worker herself, she encouraged the women working for her to get an education, save money, and learn etiquette so they could rise up to higher social stations. Darby successfully won numerous fights with hypocritical city leaders over the decades, and her business survived while others were shut down. 

Today, you can visit her brothel through Pendleton Underground Tours, and see touching reminders of the real women who worked in the demanding and often dangerous profession. Sit in the brothel chapel, peek into a working girl’s bedroom, and sneak through the pantry. Once you step outside, you can take a picture with Stella Darby herself. in the form of bronze statue standing proudly outside her brothel. 

 

4 August 2022 - THE MUSEUM OF MUSHROOMS - CROATIA

 

THE MUSEUM OF 

MUSHROOMS

 - CROATIA -

G'day folks,

This is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to mushrooms. 

Situated on the second floor of an office building overlooking Bana Jelacica square, the Museum of Mushrooms displays over 1,500 freeze-dried, preserved mushrooms in three large rooms.

Most of the collection was obtained by professor Romano Bozac, a mycologist who studied and wrote on mushrooms for over 50 years. Organized by similar types of mushrooms, each well-preserved example is labeled with a tag that indicates edibility.

The informative and friendly caretaker is always happy to talk mushrooms and point out unique specimens.

 

11 May 2022 - FROGGYLAND - CROATIA

 

FROGGYLAND 

- CROATIA -

G'day folks,

Here you will find a wonderfully strange collection of 500+ stuffed frogs doing people things. 

What would it look like if frogs were carpenters? What about if they went to school, played tennis, or ran a circus? You can find out at the strange, delightful Froggyland museum in Croatia.

The collection of anthropomorphic amphibians at Froggyland consists of 507 stuffed frogs arranged in 21 cases. These dioramas were the life’s work of 20th century Hungarian taxidermist Ference Mere, who devoted 10 years to stuffing and meticulously arranging the frogs. When he completed the project in 1920, there were around 1,000 of them. The frogs displayed at Froggyland passed from owner to owner until finally making it to Croatia and getting their own museum.

 Mere’s project may sound eccentric, but his work is truly remarkable. He used an advanced taxidermy technique in which the frogs were stuffed with cork through the mouth. This time-consuming process left the frogs entirely whole, lacking any external incisions. The varied dioramas - a blacksmith shop, a music lesson, a day on the lake - present everyday life scenarios down to the smallest detail. A photographer holds a tiny camera. A painter has been given a little easel and paintbrush. In the classroom scene, one frog raises two fingers to indicate that it is about to speak. The final result is an absolutely ribbet-ing example of creative taxidermy. (And those who just can’t get enough can hop on over to The Frog Museum afterwards.)

 

Clancy's comment: A friend recently had a garage sale of her 3,000 frog-associated ornaments. Yes, 3,000!

I'm ...

 

 

15 November 2021 - PENCIL SHARPENER MUSEUM IN OHIO

 

PENCIL SHARPENER 

MUSEUM  IN OHIO

G'day folks,

People collect all sorts of things, but pencil sharpeners? Yes, it took more than 20 years and a sharp eye for one man to assemble this quirky collection. 

Collecting pencil sharpeners and assembling them into a museum dedicated to pencil sharpeners is a kind of eccentric thing to do. Step inside the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum in Logan, Ohio and it somehow seems perfectly admirable.

The Pencil Sharpener Museum is the result of over 20 years of collecting by Ohio local, Rev. Paul A. Johnson. His wife gave him a couple of car-shaped sharpeners in the late 1980s, and his zeal for collecting was born. The sharpeners lived in a pre-fab shed in Johnson’s backyard, growing over time to over 3400 at the time he passed away in 2010. His family was holding onto them when salvation for the whole collection – and the shed – came calling in 2011. It was the Hocking Hills Welcome Center, happy to take on the job of collection custodian, and everything was moved over to their site in South Logan.  

 Just like any museum, the collection has been meticulously cataloged and preserved in protective cases. There are sharpening cars, toys, Garfields, Mickeys, Tweetybirds, tractors, airplanes, trains, U.S. presidents, panda bears. There are old ones and new ones, and some shelf-mounted classics you generally only see at the library. Try to be sharp on your puns though—the staff has heard them all.

Clancy's comment: There ya go, folks. Who'd have ever guessed?

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18 April 2021 - OPENING OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM'S DOORS

 

 OPENING OF THE BRITISH 

MUSEUM'S DOORS 

G'day folks,

The British Museum was opened to visitors on 15 January, 1759. But not just any visitors. 

Fearing damage to the collections by unruly hordes, the trustees decided that nobody would be admitted without a ticket. The problem was that only a few tickets were issued each day and even then a number of obstacles had to be surmounted before prospective visitors could receive their prize.

They had to go to the museum and apply to the porter for a ticket. If approved, they then had to go back on another day to collect it, and then go back again at an appointed time to be allowed in.

All tickets, like the one shown above, issued to a Mr Masefield, were free, but designated for a particular time. Visitors were taken round in groups of five, each group guided by one of the under-librarians. They were taken round the building very quickly to make way for the next party.

 The early trustees would no doubt recoil in horror at the sight of today's ticketless crowds wandering at will around the building, disdainfully snapping with 'selfie' phones. But at least there are no longer any servants who might be expecting a tip!

 

Clancy's comment: Tickets please!

I'm ...

 

18 October 2019 - THE WORLD MUSEUM OF INSECTS AND NATURAL WONDERS, THAILAND

THE WORLD MUSEUM 

OF INSECTS

 AND NATURAL WONDERS, THAILAND

G'day folks,

This extensive collection of dead bugs may be the world's most idiosyncratic and personal insect museum. 

 

 This Thailand insect museum might not be the largest or most extensive collection in the world, but what it lacks in scale, it makes up for in homespun (not a spider joke) charm.

 

 

  The World Museum of Insects and Natural Wonders is the work of husband and wife team Manop Ratana Rittirong Gul, and Rattana Rumpa Rittirong Gul, both former contributors to the Smithsonian. Rattana is a world leader in mosquito research and has contributed almost 500 species of mosquito to the world record, while her husband is a malaria expert. 

 

 

Together they are a husband and wife bug superteam. The walls of their small, multi-floor museum are covered in glass frames full of pinned insects of all varieties including stick insects, beetles, butterflies, and more. Each of the displays is annotated both by scientific info and personal asides. 

 

In addition to the insectoid taxidermy, the museum features a number of surreal works of art by the duo. There are paintings of women and horses cavorting with giant mosquitoes and rocks that are described as the eyes and meteors. Together, the eccentric collection is both surreal and a bit creepy. The pieces of art are also given informational plaques, but they are mostly filled with personal bits of mysticism that relate to the making and meaning of the works. 

It’s not every museum that allows such an unvarnished look into the minds of its curators, and the combination of the clinical and personal at the site make for a strange, and unforgettable mixture. 

  

Clancy's comment: Nice to see mosquitos skewered with pins.

 

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